Vacation Crab Pick

This summer, Nathan and I took what we consider to be our first grown up summer vacation. We went with three other couples who are among our best friends and spent a week at the Outer Banks in North Carolina. Each couple took a night to cook during the week and between the 8 of us we ate fantastic food all week without eating out one time. Nathan and I chose to get a bushel of crabs for our meal because no beach vacation is complete without picking a crab that has been liberally seasoned with Old Bay. Being from Maryland this fact is especially true for me! A good old fashioned crab pick is more than a meal…it’s an event. Each crab takes time to pick which makes the meal stretch out to an hour or two or three (depending on how many crabs you can put away… ) Since the crabs were the main focus of the meal we kept the sides simple with corn on the cob, awesome corn bread, watermelon, and a salad. Side note: according to our friend Mikey, crabs are still good for breakfast the next morning!

I know, I know…most of the time you only think about having crabs with a nice cold beer. While crabs and beer ARE an excellent pairing I think crabs and a chilled, light white wine are equally as tasty. This wine was a solid choice…and yes, we only bought it because of the lion on the label. It was crisp and semi-dry with a citrus undertone and just enough sweetness to contrast with the savory old bay seasoning of the crabs.

I was looking for a nice light summer beer to wash down the Old Bay from our crab pick and I figured a good wheat beer would do the trick for me. Unfortunately this beer fell a little short. It was certainly light but lacked the flavor and character of a good wheat beer. I drank one of these and then proceeded to hog the rest of Katryn’s wine.

Sweet Cornbread:

Ingredients:

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Spray or lightly grease a 9 inch round cake pan. In a large bowl, combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt and baking powder. Stir in egg, milk and vegetable oil until well combined. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake in preheated oven for 20 to 25 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean.

2 Responses to Vacation Crab Pick

Remembering how delicious it was, I made this cornbread the other night and I have to say, it’s just not the same without the Nate and Katryn touch! It was still very delicious but I am convinced you all throw a little something extra in there 😉